This application claims a priority from German application DE 100 46 843.8, filed Sep. 20, 2000, and the contents of that application are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to a reading lamp for a vehicle interior, having a light source arranged in a lamp housing and at least one optical element for producing a cone of light for reading.
German Patent Application 25 07 857 A1 describes a reading lamp or a seat lamp for vehicles having a lamp housing which basically includes a spherical lamp body pivotally mounted in a receptacle of the lamp housing. The lamp body has a light source in the form of an incandescent bulb surrounded by a reflector. A lens which covers a housing opening in the lamp body is placed in front of the light source in a light-emission direction.
One disadvantage of this known reading lamp is that the glaring white light of the light source becomes visible when one looks into the lamp, for example when one pivots the lamp, and this is perceived as being unpleasant.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to improve upon known reading lamps so that looking into such a lamp is not so unpleasant.
According to principles of this invention, a reading lamp for a vehicle interior having a light source arranged in a lamp housing and having at least one optical element which produces a cone of light for reading, includes a reflector system in the lamp housing arranged such that light can be input into the reflector system through a color filter so as to produce colored light concentric with the cone of the reading lamp.
When a person looks into the reading lamp, the colored light can be seen. The light emitted, that is the cone of the reading lamp, is not affected by the colored light, because the reflector system is not used for illumination but instead serves only to increase a size of a small spot of light of the light source, or to produce a surrounding lighting. This leads to a pleasant effect when one looks into the reading lamp.
According to a preferred embodiment of this invention, to produce the cone of light of the light source in the light-emission direction, a first lens and a second lens, spaced from the first lens, are placed in front of the light source. The light source is structured as a light-emitting diode which produces a clear white light. The color filter is structured as a filter ring in front of the light source in the direction of emission.
By structuring the color filter as a filter ring placed in front of the light-emitting diode, it does not affected the cone of the reading lamp and it produces the colored light concentric with the cone of the reading lamp.
According to another preferred embodiment of this invention, a reflector system has a reflector which is arranged concentric with the cone of the reading lamp and concentric with a tube supporting the lenses.
Because the reflector is arranged concentric with the tube supporting the lenses, the cone of the reading lamp is not affected by the colored light.
According to another preferred embodiment of this invention, the filter ring is structured as a colored plastic part. However, it is also possible to coat a base filter-ring member with a filter layer.
The color filter is structured to produce orange-colored light, which is perceived as pleasant. However, other colors are also possible and suitable.
According to another preferred embodiment of this invention, the color filter is structured as a carrier for the first lens, but it is also possible to form the color filter as one piece with the lens.
According to another preferred embodiment of this invention, the reflector is made of a transparent light-conductor material, so that colored light can be reflected or transmitted, into the reflector relatively easily.
Basically, the reading cone light can be produced by an optical element, which can be structured as a reflector surrounding the light source or as a lens placed in front of the light source. It is also possible to combine the lens with the reflector. In particular when using light-emitting diodes as the light source, the first and second lenses are placed in front of the light-emitting diode to produce the cone of the reading lamp.